Brown's Nissan

I bought (as new) back in June 2003) a 2003 Nissan Altima 4-cyl, 2.5 L engine with 45,000 miles on it. On Sunday, 05/02/10, I suddenly found my car wouldn't start. After several attempts, it finally started. I drove to Jiffy Lube to get the oil changed. After this was done, the technician couldn't get my car to start to move it out of the service bay. Since they were getting ready to close and couldn't start the car, I had to leave the car in the bay and was given a ride home that evening. Jiffy Lube told me that the gas station next door to them (but across the street) did good work and that they could push my car over to them the next morning if I wanted. The next morning on Monday, 05/03, I got a rental car and drove to the service station and explained my situation and that my car was sitting at Jiffy Lube.

I then go to Jiffy Lube and they said that my car started that morning and they were able to drive it out of the bay. I told them that I was going to see if it would start again so I could drive to the gas station next door, and it started that time and got it to the station. Later that day, the mechanic told me he ran a diagnostic and it came up with a P0340 error code that pertains to the crank position sensor. The mechanic did some further research and found that the Nissan 2003 Altima has a voluntary recall (Campaign ID R0606) citing this very problem. The mechanic told me I should go to the Nissan dealership and have them repair/replace the sensors as he said this is covered under the recall.

I was able to drive my Altima from the service station to the Nissan dealership (where I had bought the car) and told them what the mechanic at this other shop had told me and immediately the service department dismissed what this other mechanic had told me and said that they (the dealership) would have to run their own diagnostic and that it was much more thorough than what "some yahoo down the street would do". (That really irked me hearing that kind of arrogance because this other mechanic from that service station could have easily not researched the problem and made up some other kind of problem and had me pay for it, but he didn't. So here I am talking to this arrogant service technician at the Nissan dealership and he's telling me how much more thorough their diagnostics are and that "they take hours to perform" (yeah, right). He told me that the recall does not cover the replacement of a bad sensor (if it is that) and that the only way they can determine what it is is to run their diagnostic (which of course was going to cost $105 (after I had just paid for a diagnostic with the previous service station (which again the Nissan dealership wouldn't recognize because to them if the diagnostic was performed by anyone else that wasn't Nissan, then they were a bunch of yahoos.

The service department went on to tell me that they could just "reset the sensors" and that it may/may not correct the problem and that about half of those sensors they do reset, those people come back to them because they didn't want to see if anything else needed to be repaired. So since I'm a lone female who was afraid that my car could have the sensor reset and still have a problem late at night when I'm by myself, I opted for the service department to keep my car (which they said they couldn't get to until the next morning). They told me that if they did find anything that they would call me. Well, I knew well that "they would find something" because they're a dealership and there's no way they're not going to find something. So now I have to rent my car for another day.

Today, 05/04, sure enough I get a call and they find that they do have to replace the cam and crank sensors as they have an internal failure and they tell me the recall doesn't cover this. I told them (over the phone since I was at work) that based on all the blogs I've seen about this very problem that the recall is supposed to cover this and they tell me it doesn't. So now I'm stuck with either letting them keep my car or telling them to fix it now knowing I'll have to cover the cost. I later drove to the dealership this evening and made it known I was mad that they (Nissan) know this is a known and pervasive problem and yet they're telling me I have to pay for this. Well, I got nowhere with them and had to pay and leave. I told them before I left that there is one blog site where there are over 100 blogs about this very problem from very angry 2003 Nissan Altima owners all saying this recall should have covered the cost, but this is just the dealer's way of making extra money and the corporation somehow conveniently found a loophole. Almost all bloggers that had their cars repaired (at their expense) said that this still hasn't fixed the issue and that now their problems have gotten even worse. Somehow Nissan says this is only a voluntary recall because it's not a safety issue when I don't know how they can say that because this error code that's associated with the problem says it's causing the engine to stop while people are driving or if they're idling even at a stop light. How can this not be a safety issue?

Took the car to CARMAX to appraise it, the appraisal confirmed that the car's been in accident and there has been multiple paint works on the Hood, doors and front bumpers, they valued the car at $14000. The dealership had the 3-day exchange policy, we took the car to the dealer, he had no other cars in the dealership similar to this one. He was trying to sell the newer model with more commision on it. We are currently stuck with him. We don't know what to do. We wanted our money back.

On Saturday August 22, 2009, I went to Browns Sterling Nissan to purchase a vehicle. I already had the specific vehicle that I wanted picked out. My parents were here to assist me with the purchase, and they also wanted to test drive the car.

When arriving at the dealership, I spoke with the sales person who had assisted me the two previous times I had went to the dealership. He informed me that the vehicle had no gas for me to be able to test drive it, but that he would go put some in and come right back. After waiting for about 45 minutes someone informed us that the car had run out of gas on the way to the gas station and that they would help us in order to not lose the sale.

We were fine with this, negotiated with the other salesperson, agreed to a price, I wrote the check and received a receipt for the vehicle. By this time the original sales person had returned, I matched the VIN number on my receipt and buying order to the VIN number on the car I was purchasing. The sales person informed me that it would take a little while to clean the car, and that I could return that evening to pick up the vehicle. I said I would do that and left with plans to return at 7PM to pick up the car.

When I returned that evening I was told that I just need to get my registration and they would put on the plates. I was waiting for about 40 minutes when the sales person informed me that there had been a mistake. The dealership wrote down the wrong stock number, so they though they were selling me a different car from the one that was actually sold to me (which I had a receipt for).

They wanted me to pay more money for the vehicle I had already paid for. After being treated very rudely by the general sales manager, Patrick H, I left the dealership, that I had spent all day at waiting, with no car!

I am an owner of 2001 Nissan Altima. All along during these entire 8 years I was taking my car to the Authorized Nissan Dealer trusting them any other local repair people. But from 2005 I am observing that the local dealers are suggesting me to replace several parts and they charged me hefty amounts for every service. I was always in doubt when they asked me to replace some thing, but due to the trust that I put in in the dealers I replaced every thing what ever was recommended. Recently my driver side window stopped working (was not rolling up).

So I took it to Browns Nissan, Sterling, VA and after making me wait for one hour they said the window switch has to be replaced. I said I will come back later since I had some other appointments. They upfront charged me the labor fee so that I will come back again. I went back again, the switch was replaced and I was charged around $300.00. But immediately after taking the car I checked the window and it did not work. So the service manager mentioned the motor has to be replaced which will cost > $600.00. That means they replaced the switch with out even checking what was the problem.

I took the car to a local service shop, whether they checked and mentioned the relay was bad and the relay was replaced with a genuine Nissan part for which I spent < $100.00. And also at the same time when the dealer replaced the window switch, they also replaced the hub caps due to the rattling sound at the wheel. It did not solve the problem and I am still getting the sound. With the above two incidents, I lost trust in Nissan's authorized dealers and I started thinking about all the repairs that were performed until now on the car. I definitely spent > $5000.00 on the car.

I was not able to conduct emission test on my vehicle as the onboard diagnostic system was not able to communicate with computer. Hence I took my car for diagnosis purpose to this dealer - Browns Nissan Fairfax. They took 3 Hrs to diagnose the problem (100$/Hr) and told me that I need to order Airbag control & sensor unit. Once that will be replaced the OBD system will comunicate with computer. They told me the price of the part is $700 and to install this part takes 3 hrs. so they asked me that there will be 300$ additional charges for its installation.

Keeping faith on the person, I ordered the part for $700 and also paid $300 for its installation. The service was really good and they told that now the OBD system started communicating with computer and now u can do emission test. Happily I came home.

But when I checked the price of the part with Nissan original part shop, it was just $435.95. I really shocked after listening the price for this part from the person who was speaking with me on phone. I have a complaint against this dealer why he had charged me $700 for this genuine nissan part whose price was $435.95 and also why additional charges of $300 even after charging high on the part value.

I ended up paying arnd $1100 for this after the discount that he offered me on the total price. $300 (initial 3 hr diagnonis)+ $700 (Air bag control & sensor unit) + $300 (installation charges.)

NISSAN MURANO'S.

I went to 3 Nissan dealers in my local area. 2 of the 3 treated me terribly when they found out I wasn't ready to buy a car. I was ignored and in one case actually told to come back when I was ready because they didn't have time for me.

Then I went to Browns Sterling Nissan. I talked to a salesperson first but eventually dealt with the manager Patrick Hall. He understood my interest in shopping so I could get the best deal. He spent a ton on time with me trying to make sure all of my questions were answered.

I did not buy that day but after I finished my research I saw that he had given me the lowest price. I was glad because his customer service was the best by far so I went back and bought. I will make sure that I stick with Browns Sterling Nissan and Patrick in the future and I will send every one I know to them.

I saw a complaint about this dealership from 2001 before I went there which is why I am writing this praise in the complaint section. Who ever was there in 01 is obviously gone because Patrick and his team are really great! I wanted to help the team there overcome that bad review from 01 which might keep people from wanting to go there. Browns Sterling Nissan is a great place to do business.

I heard on the radio about a 120% Kelly Blue Book guarantee for all trade ins at Brown's Nissan of Fairfax, VA. Obviously skeptical, I called Brown's Nissan to verify the claims of this ad and they assured me its 100% validity. After spending 2 hours waiting for my cars appraisals they gave me two offers. One of the offers was very reasonable, not 120% of KBB but none the less good. However, the second offer was well below even the KBB value.

I asked the reasoning behind there decision and they said one of the fenders was repainted and they had to dock money because of it. If anyone is familiar with Kelly Blue Book the three conditions accounts for any sort of variances in condition. Even with the fair value, which my car is obviously above from any other point of view, it wasn't close to the mark let alone 120% of value.

The reason I am upset over this situation is the fact I traveled an hour to get up there, spent two hours at the dealership all for nothing. It was the typical bate and switch/false advertising. Believe in the old adage if its too good to be true it is!

I bought a 2003 used 350Z at Browns Nissan, and in March of 2006, I was interested in trading it in. I spoke to a sales person who said they would have to test drive it, etc, and then they would give me a trade-in figure. I agreed to that, but said I had an appointment later that day and could only stay for an hour. After about 30/35 min. the salesman came in and made me an offer. I felt it was way below what the car was worth (it was below the Blue Book value, too), and I declined to trade it in.

I thanked him for his time and asked for my keys. He asked what I would need to make the sale, and I said I needed an honest trade-in price. I repeated again that I was not interested and asked for my keys.

The salesperson (Eastern descent) went to the desk and spoke to the guy there. He then asked me to come talk to the guy. I went over and said that I was not interested in making a sale now and for the third time I asked for my keys. The man behind the desk (heavy set, probably in his 30's) said he needed some time to recheck the figure offered to me. I said that I assumed the figure had been based on something legitimate and that I had to leave. He got very nasty and said, Thanks for wasting my time. I said that I had been waiting for 45 minutes, and that my time was wasted also. Again, I asked for my keys, and when they weren't given to me, I raised my voice.

At this point another man came out and got threatening and told me to not raise my voice in the showroom. I told him that I was frustrated and that I had asked 4 times for my keys, and I had a right to raise my voice. He came toward me and said, Just leave...now. I said I didn't have my keys and he told the man to give them to me. He repeated in a threatening manner, Just leave..now.

I called and spoke to the manager the day after and he said he had no way of knowing who the rude men were!!!! I told him he could check to see who was on the front desk on that particular day. He basically said there was nothing he could do. A few days later I traded my car in on a new Eclipse GT, which cost about 12,000 less, and I was given $3000 more as a trade in! I will never buy another Nissan product, nor will I ever have anything positive to say about the people at Browns Nissan in Sterling VA.

On the 14th of Jun 2005, we took our car for Oil and Filter Change at Brown’s Car Stores (Arlington Nissan). Our car’s mileage was 23,004 on 2002 Maxima. Now before this Oil and Filter Change Our Car ran really good. The Technician advised us that they found sluggish oil while draining very dirty, they recommended we change our oil on the car more often and they also recommended that we have engine flushed. Again, before we brought the car in for Oil and Filter change, our car was running fine, No noises, no check engine light, and no check oil light...etc.

They performed the engine flush and my car was returned. They didn’t explain me what test was performed on my car or how long the tests ran. No definite answer. On July 22, 2005, driving up north for family reunion, we get there and rest, later on that day going to store, I get in my car and as soon as I started my car white smoke started to appear from my exhaust pipe. It lasted for about 15 seconds and then it would stop. We would only get this white smoke from our exhaust pipe when the car is started. While driving the the car no white smoke visible. Now engine wasn’t smoking while driving, heard no noise while driving either. We drive back from up North back to Virginia and still getting white smoke upon starting the car.

I called Brown’s car store on the 26th of August and spoke with the Service Manager and advised them that I’m still getting white smoke every time I start my Car, after all they (Arlington Nissan) performed engine flush and Oil Filter change. I called Nissan Consumer Affairs, Gardena, CA and advise them of this problem I was having with Arlington Nissan. I explained the situation to Nissan Consumer Affairs Representative and verified my name and address and updated my information in their database. Representative gives me a reference number and they also advise me about Factory recall on Crank position sensor R3022, they advised me to take my car back to get this work done.

I took my car back to Arlington Nissan on 29th of August 2005 in the morning on or about 8am, So they can do further test on my to see why my car is giving white smoke from the exhaust after start up. The next day on the 30th August 2005 about 4pm, I called them on the phone (Arlington Nissan) and spoke with assistant service manager and I asked them, “What is the status of my car?” And they advise that they could two other types of tests for a price 270.00. I asked him, “Would these two types of test will determine why my car is showing white smoke from the exhaust pipe? He replied, we can do these test, but he know already what’s wrong with my car, you need a rebuilt or new engine. I asked them, “How much for this?” Anywhere from 3000.00 to 5000.00!

I advised them once more that nothing was wrong with car prior until I brought to the dealer for Oil change and at they recommendation. I advised them that my car was running fine up until I brought it there for Oil Change and Engine Flush at their recommendation.

On September 24, 2003, my daughter purchased a 2003 Nissan Altima from Brown's Sterling Nissan. We were told that the car had been a demo model, so she was able to purchase it with new car financing. This could be done only if I co-signed the loan. This is where I come into the picture. The dealership was paid to handle the registeration, taxes etc. We were told that there was a computer glitch at DMV, so we were issued a temporary registeration. After thirty days, we still had no permanent registeration, so we were issued another temporary registeration for another thirty days and that the problem was, that, she needed to sign a power of attorney giving DMV permission for my name to be put on her registeration for the tags she already had from a previous automobile.

At the end of this period, they continued to allow that there was a problem between them and the DMV. My daughter contacted the DMV and was told no paper work had ever been issued to them and that she needed to contact the Dealer Board which she did. The Board contacted Brown's at this point. Later in that day Brown's business manager, Michael Petros contacted her, told her that the car had been sold to a lady in June of 2003. This person brought the vehicle back because they wanted a Maxima. Due to some personal problems with a former titling clerk at Brown's, the vehicle had been titled to this person by mistake? Brown's was trying to contact this person to get her to sign a power of attorney to have her name removed from this title.

Several weeks passed with no resolution to this problem and no one from Brown's letting us know what the status was. On December 5, 2003, we visited the Dealership to try and get some answers. We questioned the length of time this other person had had the car, why it was not told to us in the beginning that the car had originally been sold and why they had issued three temporary registrations, knowing that legally, two were all that was allowed. They told us that the person wasn't happy with the vehicle and that technically it was not considered a used car. We questioned this but because we were able to get the new car percentage rate we did not persue this area.

What we really want is to get the registeration, something that we paid for in advance and in good faith. The dealership then put dealer tags on the automobile and thirty days later we still do not have a resolution to this matter. I am filing a complaint with the Attorney Generals Office for Consumer Affirs and have contacted the Nissan Cooperation. Brown's are now allowing that the holdup is with Nissan.

This has been an exausting matter and there still seems to be not end in sight after almost four months. We have been the ones to initate the calls as the dealership seems to avoid us.

I bought an automobile from Brown's Fairfax Nissan on 2/26/01. As of 9/10/01 I took my car to a Mitsubishi dealer because I was having a transmission problem. I was contacted by the service manager, who said that there was no record of the car being serviced for the transmission at 30,000 miles. I explained that I didn't own the vehicle at that time due to the fact that I purchased the vehicle at 32,000 miles.

I contacted Lenny at Brown's and told him that Mitsubishi will not honor the warranty unless I can provide proof that the car was serviced. Lenny told me to bring the car to Brown's which I did on 9/16/01. I was contacted by the service dept at Brown's and spoke to Matthew who told me that the car was being transferred to a Mitsubishi dealer because they couldn't fix the car. On 9/19 I was asked by Lenny if I could come to the dealership on 9/22 to see if he could trade the Nissan for another vehicle.

On 9/24 I called and was told Mr. Myers was not going to be in until 9/26. I spoke to the general manager, Solomon, and he said that he would get to the bottom of this situation and call me back. He contacted me back and said that Mitsubishi wasn't going to honor the warranty. I contacted the Mitsubishi dealer that Brown's transported the vehicle to and spoke to service person that serviced my car. His name was was Noel. Noel stated that they didn't have a problem honoring the warranty but Brown's could not provide any service history records for the vehicle and they should be responsible for fixing the vehicle.

I asked him how could this have occurred. He told me that I only have put 9,000 miles on the car and the transmission was a problem when I bought the car and they failed to service the car.

I have been without a vehicle for three weeks now and borrowing rides to work on a daily basis because they haven't provided me with a rental vehicle. I have to pay someone to take me to grocery stores, etc.

In Friday's mail I received an Auto Loan Approval Certificate From Brown's Sterling Nissan. It was a five day only offer for a new or used car. The offer stated all credit applications accepted and financing was through NMAC (Nissan Motors Acceptance Corp).

The dealer said it was for new cars only even though the offer stated new and used. The finance manager said my credit number was too low. I have not seen my credit report but AMEX just changed my card to a gold one and my VISA limit was increased. I financed a Select Comfort bed and Conseco has a 3,000 credit line for me and I purchased a computer with MBA and I now have a 5000 credit line. I have never financed a car and my credit history is only three years old. I am only 24 years old. I have been working full time for the same employer for five years. I live with my parents and pay no rent.

There offer said all applications accepted. I guess that is different than all applications are approved. Isn't the English language great.

Anyhow the dealer asked for a co-signer. My father had a medical condition and was on Social Security Disability. His medical condition destoyed his credit. Even though his credit was poor the dealer would accept him as a co-signer and write the deal for 18.9%. A far cry from 3.9% and a $39.00 acqutition cost and no payment until October. The deal offered to me was $1000 down with payments starting immediately.

When I told my Dad I need him to co-sign and what happen at the dealer, he told the dealer what he expected and he was not going to co-sign.

The car I thought I was going to buy on the dealer and MNAC auto loan approval certificate was switch to a standard poor credit auto loan requiring a co-signer. I was upset that I wasted my time. I felt because I was a young woman that the dealership took advantaged. The car I found may be sold out from under me because the co-sign papers havenot been signed. The dealer has a $1000 check which I hope I will not lose.

I first visited Brown's Sterling Nissan in Sterling, Va. on May 1, 2001 to look at a 2001 Pathfinder LE 4WD. During this visit, a Salesperson by the first name of Benjamin assisted me. Upon learning that I was interested in a particular colored vehicle (Gold) that was not in stock, I was informed that such a vehicle could be located for me. The Salesperson and Sales Manager, John Hanes, also strongly insisted that I leave a check for $100, which was supposed to let them know that I was serious about purchasing the vehicle. Therefore, I wrote a check for $100 on May 1, 2001 to Browns Sterling Nissan.

On Friday, May 11, 2001, I telephoned the dealership, spoke to Mr. John Hanes, and requested a refund and he refused to do so. He said that the dealership did not owe me anything. I beg to differ, I feel as though I was charged $100 to test-drive a car, which is a practice that is usually performed free. I gave this dealership $100 and received NOTHING in return. I would like to have the money refunded.